Personal thoughts, opinions and comments of an independent consultant, political analyst and historian, who lives in Ireland but is aware of the whole world.

19 November 2008

Irish Government plans to ban Bedsits

After banning smoking in public and proper light bulbs, the Irish government is now also planning to ban the traditional rented bedsits, as part of a series of new measures, trying to improve standards in the Irish rented accommodation sector.

A new government proposal will see one-room units phased out by new regulations, insisting that rental units should have their own sanitary facilities.

The idea of fading out the many thousands of poor quality bedsits is to be welcomed in general, and the move is actually overdue. It could and should have come years ago, when there was more than enough money available to modernise and improve old apartments.

But now, as economic recession is hitting the whole country and causes great financial distress for many of us, the measure will turn out to be a double-edged sword. Most of these old bedsits, many with facilities of 1950s and 1960s standard, are owned by dodgy landlords who not even declare their earnings from them. The units are predominantly rented by the most vulnerable and poor people in the country, especially unemployed single people, recipients of social welfare and incapacity benefit, and also a good number of elderly people, living on their own.

Since the influx of many foreign workers into Ireland in recent years, a lot of these bedsits are now also occupied by people from eastern Europe, who come here to work and send as much money as possible home to their families. So they go for the cheapest possible option when it comes to accommodation, which is in Ireland the old bedsit with very little comfort and facilities. There are seldom rent books and documents, and the rent is usually paid in cash and collected by the landlord himself every week. Thus many landlords, who are not far removed from the old slum lords of 19th and early 20th century Irish tenements and often lead a shady life, make plenty of money from their bedsits without ever paying a single Cent in taxes.

It is - as I said above - a positive step in the right direction to tackle this problem, close bedsits that are barely fit for habitation and make the landlords to renovate their properties and pay at last their taxes. But the question is how the new law will be enforced? Will we see hundreds of housing inspectors going around the country, checking on rented properties and their occupants and owners? Or will we just have another piece of meaningless legislation, with looks nice on the statute books, but has no real impact on the ground?

Given my experience with Irish politicians, local authorities and landlords, I suspect that it will be the latter. There are already plenty of regulations in place under which a good percentage of old and dingy bedsits should be taken out of the market, as they are shambolic at best and even a health hazard for the occupants at worst. But nothing has happened for years. All is going on as it has been for decades, with the most poor and vulnerable tenants being exploited by landlords who grow rich and fat on them.

So one has to wonder why the government is coming up with this proposal now? The answer is actually quite simple. Rents have been falling, and continue to fall in value, all across the country.In fact rents have fallen to their lowest levels in more than two years now, according to one of Ireland's biggest property websites.

Analysts say that Irish rents have dropped by an average of 3% across the country in the past three months, due to what it called "the dramatic increase in the number of properties available to rent".

This is of course the result of the uncontrolled and nonsensical building boom during the years of the 'Celtic Tiger', when within just a few years new apartment blocks were built everywhere, and with no regards to real demands. Here in Waterford alone I know several of these massive blocks which are more than half empty. And if the Department of Health and the Department of Social and Family Affairs would not put large numbers of - mostly African - asylum seekers in there at the taxpayers' expense, they would be 80% empty.

At the start of November, there were over 18,000 properties available to rent nationwide, up 133% on the level of the same time last year.

Economist Ronan Lyons says that "2006 and 2007 saw an unprecedented number of new homes built in Ireland - probably over 170,000 in two years. With no shortage of unsold properties, rents can be expected to continue to fall for perhaps another 12 months". "Much lower numbers of new homes built from 2009 on - perhaps only 55,000 over the course of 2009 and 2010 - should bring Ireland's property market back into balance," he added.

So, what is really behind the new government proposal? It is not the concern for poor tenants in dingy little bedsits with no proper facilities. And it is not the will to collect taxes from dodgy and unscrupulous landlords, who are well-known to local authorities and politicians, and often even welcome financial supporters of Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.

No, the real reason for the new proposal - and for its timing - is that the government's friends in the property industry, the many developers who became millionaires on the back of the 'Celtic Tiger' and just kept building and building new apartments like mad - and with borrowed money - are now facing real financial difficulties. So they come running to their friends in high places, asking for help.

The government's answer seems now to force low income tenants out of their bedsits and into a vast array of empty modern apartments they really cannot afford, even at a time of low rents.Thus the developers will have a new source of income, which might help them to survive the current crisis and economic recession.

And who will pay for all this? You and me, and every taxpayer in the country. Because the poor bedsit tenants cannot afford the rents for modern apartments, they will apply for - and receive - rent allowance from the Department of Health. At the same time the owners of the old bedsits will apply for - and receive - improvement grants for their buildings, also paid out by the government, which means from our taxes.

None of these measures have been properly budgeted for, and are not even mentioned in the 2009 Budget. So the money will have to be found elsewhere, and most likely be brought into an emergency 'mini budget' next year, which will come anyway as things stand now.If the government would really care for those who live in bad old bedsits with no proper cooking and sanitary facilities, they would pass a new law that defines the minimum standards for rented accommodation and make the landlords responsible for it, with the explicit provision that they will not be allowed to raise the rent after they have made the required improvements. Those who make their main income from bedsits are wealthy people, and in the current situation they would not want to lose their tenants. So they would - and would have to - comply with new rules, and still make plenty of money.

Once again we see the government proposing what looks at first glance like a good idea, but after examination of the details it turns out to be just another scam. But then again, what else can one expect from Fianna Fáil?

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FACTS ABOUT IRELAND

The Emerald Isle

(also known as Ireland) has been inhabited by humans for at least 10,000 years. This image shows the topographical structure of the island, which was until recent times very important and decided in many cases where the people would build their settlements.The oldest surviving monuments in Ireland date from megalithic times between 5000 and 3500 BCE. About 200 BCE the Celts, familiar with the use of iron, conquered the island.

Around 1000 years later Viking raiders from Norway appeared, and in 914 they built the first city in Ireland, calling it "Vadra Fjord" (safe anchorage), which later became Waterford.In 1169 this city was the first to be taken by the Normans, when they invaded and conquered large parts of the island, including the capital Dublin.

In later centuries Ireland became more known for emigrants, as famine, poverty and oppression drove people out into the world. (About 45 million Americans have Irish ancestry.)However, since the unexpected economic boom (known as the "Celtic Tiger"), which we had for about a dozen years, there are now many immigrants on the Emerald Isle, coming from almost everywhere and turning the once quiet and introvert island into a vibrant international community.

Unfortunately the boom turned out to be only a bubble, based on false hopes, speculation and criminal gambling by reckless bankers. So now we are in a deep economic recession, which is made even worse by our current incompetent government.What will happen to Ireland in the future is hard to say, but it all will depend on making the right political, economic, and social decisions.

There is a realistic chance that Ireland could become a major producer of clean energy, and proposals have been presented already to the government and the public. It will now depend on our politicians to make the right decisions. If they do, then we can have a bright and promising future. If not, Ireland is in danger of becoming a poor third-world country.

Ireland's Countryside

is predominantly green. It is said that there are actually forty different shadesofgreen on the island, but few people go around counting.The landscape is rolling, with drumlins, hills and river valleys, and one is never far from the sea in Ireland.Ancient Stones like the one on this photo can be found in many parts of Ireland. They are the remnants of the old religion, which is once again growing on the Emerald Isle.

Ireland's National Flag

was first introduced during the uprising of 1848 in Waterford, Ireland's oldest city, by Thomas Francis Meagher, a native of the city who later rose to prominence as a Union General (and leader of the famous Irish Brigade) during the American Civil War (1861-65).An Bhratach Náisiúnta, as she is called in Irish, is a vertical (revolutionary) tricoleur, inspired by and modeled on the flag of the French Republic.The colours are green, white and orange. They represent the land and the predominantly Catholic nationalist majority (green), the protestant Anglo-Irish minority (orange), and the peace (white) that exists between them.

The flag was used by nationalists in private since 1848 and flown in public again during the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin. In 1919 she was adopted as the official flag of the Irish Republic.

Uachtarán na hÉireann

Prof. Mary McAleese is the 8th President of the Republic of Ireland. First elected to the office in 1997 as a representative of the majority government party Fianna Fáil, she is now in her second seven-year term, to which she was elected without opposition in 2004. She is the second female President of the Republic and currently also the longest-serving elected female head of state in the world. Born in Belfast, she encountered the Northern troubles first-hand and her Catholic family was forced out of their house by "loyalist" terrorists. After studying law in Belfast and Dublin, she qualifed as a barrister. In 1975 she was appointed a professor in the legal faculty of Trinity College, Dublin and in 1979 joined RTÉ television as a journalist and presenter. Since 1981 she combined both areas of work, but returned in 1987 to Belfast, as Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University, which appointed her Pro-Vice Chancellor in 1994.

An Taoiseach

Brian Cowen, TD is the 12th Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland and the 7th leader of the majority government party Fianna Fáil. In 1984, aged 24, he was elected to the Dáil in the constituency his father Bernhard, a local publican, had represented before. After 8 years in parliament, Cowen was appointed Minister for Labour in 1992. Since then he served as Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Minister for Health and Children, and - from 2000 to 2004 - as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Since 2005 Brian Cowen was Minister for Finance, and since 2007 also Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister). When Taoiseach Bertie Ahern declared his resignation on April 2nd, 2008, Cowen was elected unopposed as the new leader of Fianna Fáil on April 9th. On May 7th, 2008 Dáil Eireann elected him Taoiseach. He leads a coalition government inherited from Bertie Ahern and supported by the Green Party and four independent TDs. The now 48-year-old, sometimes referred to as 'Biffo', is married and father of two daughters. A keen Gaelic football fan, he also continues to be president of Clara GAA club.

The Parliament

of Ireland is known as the Houses of the Oireachtas. The House of Deputies (currently 166) is called Dáil Éireann, while 60 Senators form Seanad Éireann, the Senate. Both meet at Leinster House on Dublin's Kildare Street (above). The former city residence of the Duke of Leinster was sold in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) which added two new wings, to accomodate the National Library and the National Museum. After the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 the central part was chosen as the provisional parliament chamber (until some proper building would be found). Despite plans to turn the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, into the seat of the Oireachtas, it never happened. So Leinster House is still at the heart of Irish politics. And when Irish architect James Hoban designed the White House in Washington, D.C., he modeled it on Leinster House.

A few words about me

Having been born into an old European family (with 75% of the genes Celtic) I learned early that history and traditions are very important. After a quite turbulent childhood and youth, spent in different countries on three continents, I joined the Navy, served for many years in ships, other commands, and became a historian.
After leaving the Navy I worked in a museum and national monument, taught in school and college, edited a magazine and worked as journalist and broadcaster. Now I earn my crust as an independent consultant and analyst. In my scarce spare time I am involved in various social activities and charity work, write and read a lot, and sometimes even find time for painting.
My house is old and small, and I share it with a cat. Living a simple Spartan life, I eat vegetarian food and do not enjoy alcohol and most entertainments.
Life is too short to be wasted on fripperies. Every day is needed to do one's share - no matter how small it might be - to save the planet and its living creatures.

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